Excalibur's Seven | ✓ [LGBT]

~ 7 ~

A RUSH OF ADRENALINE filled Morgana's lungs as they ran as far from the knights as they possibly could. The rush was enough to keep him on his feet until they were sure they were safe, but it could only carry him so far. Giselle could see this, and she took his hand, sharing a bit of her strength with him.

He'd managed to take just enough from Kit to keep him from showing his true face, but as soon as he held up his end of the deal he knew it would be useless. They'd all see the real him, the real, sick, dying him, and it would not be pretty.

"You've been using glamour, haven't you?" she asked once they all slowed down. Kit and Selene branched off to find a good place to camp for the night, Chalice and Eurion trailing behind, while Giselle and Morgana stopped to take a break.

Morgana slumped against the tree. "Just a little. I'm using him to get it, he's hardly noticed, but I'm—I'm giving him back his name. I won't have anything left in me for glamour after this."

"Let it down," she whispered, letting her soft fingers trace his cheeks. "They're going to know anyways, you might as well preserve your strength now."

He looked away, but she pulled his face back.

"Come on, Mog, it's just me."

Morgana sighed, giving in and letting the glamour fade. His perfect skin gave way to a cracked cheek, porcelein and imperfect, the eye of the same side now pooled with a deep crimson. His hands trembled, a scar shooting down his neck and across his torso. A patch of white hair blackened in its messy updo.

"There you are. I missed you," she hummed, standing onto her toes and pressing her lips to his forehead.

"It's getting worse, Princess," he told her. "I don't want them to see."

"What's so bad about them knowing?"

"They're going to think I'm weak."

"And you've been depending on them being afraid of you?"

Morgana rolled his eyes. "It's the easiest way to get them under my thumb."

"Well you have me now. They can't hurt you as long as I'm here and I'm not going to leave you. Do you understand?"

He didn't like how easily she got to him. He was as stubborn as they come, but Giselle was the spring that came and melted the winter away. She was the only one that could soften him up.

"Fine," he murmured, brushing past her. He tried his best to walk straight as he made his way into the clearing of trees, where a single lantern lit up the area with a warm glow.

He could feel their stares in an instant.

"Shut up," he barked the moment Kit opened his mouth to speak.

Kit ducked his head. "I was just going to ask for my name back."

"Kristofer. There, you happy?"

He didn't feel anything, it was clear Kit didn't either, but Chalice perked up.

It didn't take long for Morgana to be impressed with them, he didn't even bother to ask how they got so good at magic. He was certain they felt the shift somehow.

Kit stepped closer to him, eyes narrowing down on the faery, and he rose a hand. Morgana was nearly too slow to catch it.

"Can I help you?"

The prince smiled, letting his hand go limp, but Morgana kept his fierce grip. "I was just checking to see if you'd kept your word."

"And?"